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49 Conn. L. Rev. 553 (2016-2017)
Regulators at the Margins: The Impact of Malpractice Insurers on Solo and Small Firm Lawyers

handle is hein.journals/conlr49 and id is 571 raw text is: 






                   CONNECTICUT

                 LAW REVIEW

VOLUME  49                DECEMBER  2016                 NUMBER  2



                             Article


 Regulators at the Margins: The Impact of Malpractice
        Insurers   on  Solo  and  Small  Firm   Lawyers


                          LESLIE C. LEVIN

    Liability insurers often informally regulate the behavior of their
insureds through the underwriting process, premium pricing, contract
design, and risk management  practices. This Article explores whether
lawyer professional liability (LPL) insurers effectively regulate the
behavior  of solo and  small firm  lawyers in ways  that encourage
responsible conduct. The Article draws on interviews of insurance industry
executives, risk management counsel, and insured lawyers, as well as
insurer documents and surveys of lawyers, to explore the impact of LPL
insurers on the work lives of solo and small firm lawyers. The research
reveals that LPL insurers appear to regulate the behavior of solo and
small firm lawyers in limited ways. The Article explores the reasons why
this is the case. It also discusses solo and small firm lawyers' attitudes
toward  malpractice claims, which shed additional light on the likely
efficacy of insurers' efforts to regulate the behavior of these lawyers. The
Article identifies a much more  effective regulator of some lawyers'
conduct-title insurers-and explains how this regulation occurs and the
conditions that make effective regulation possible. It suggests some steps
that LPL insurers could take to further encourage solo and small firm
lawyers to engage in more responsible behavior.


553

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